Explore Your Workout Routine with Interval Training

Are you planning to revive your workout routine? Do you feel the burden of working out more than expected when you come to know that more 45 minutes are yet to go after spending 15 minutes on a cardio with great intensity? Well, if you have a positive reply for any of these queries, you’ll be glad to know that interval training is a better option. If you have just heard of this term, you might be of the opinion that interval training is just for the athletes for increasing their performance. However, this workout is actually ideal for all exercisers. The beginners feel comfortable to perform the aerobic intervals; while the seasoned exercisers are more excited to perform the anaerobic intervals. So, this article aims at reviving your workout session with interval training.

What Is Interval Training?

Contrasting to exercising at a steady pace, interval training includes sporadic high intensity exercises as well as resting intervals. In this workout, you perform high-intensity exercises for shorter periods in between low intensity exercises as well as rest. For instance, interval training can include short intervals of jogging into your walking exercise, provided you are fit enough to do so. In case the desired fitness level is not there, alternate faster walking can be included in your easy walking exercise. So, you can walk leisurely for five minutes and then walk fast for the next one minute. You need to repeat this set for at least 15 minutes.

Such an approach not only makes your workout more exciting, but also allows performing more workouts in a less time. This truly means burning more calories in least amount of time. Moreover, such a workout is more comfortable than the one with a high intensity.

What are the Benefits?

Interval training workouts offer several benefits that are listed below.

Boosted metabolism

Burning of more calories

Effective weight loss

Improved stamina

Increased speed of exercising

Increased endurance

More energy

Increased fun, no boredom

Reduced risk of overtraining

Prevention of injuries

No need of any equipment

More efficiency by including more exercises to be performed in least amount of time

In short, interval training makes one capable of moving to the next fitness level.

Does Intensity Matter?

Yes! In fact, the idea is to perform more vigorously in shorter intervals for burning more calories. It is true that in the beginning, this workout is challenging. However, you can start by performing slowly to avoid any injury and then take up a more intense routine. As your cardiovascular fitness gets a boost, you will be able to work out with more intensity. Consider the intensity scale of 1-10, where 1 means standing, 5 stands for light walk or jogging, and 10 indicates walking or running very fast. Usually, it is advised to perform the higher intensity exercises for 2-5 minutes. However, you are free to increase or decrease the intensity levels (say 4 minutes of normal walking at steady pace followed by one minute of jogging).

Before you start, consult your medical practitioner to seek the right advice.